This time I used Mixbook, which I learned about on PhotoBookGirl’s site.  I had no idea there were so many online bookmaking options from which to use!

Mixbook falls more into the digital scrapbooking category than some of the other tools I have used before although with all of the control it allows you, you could make any kind of book you wanted.  You can select from all types of backgrounds and stickers to customize the book’s look  although I can see where you could really go overboard with the embellishments.

Since I’m more of a “plain Jane” than a “bells and whistles” kinda gal, we’ll see what the printed version looks like.  Either way, it’s great to have a record of the year, and I enjoyed putting it together.

Update: My book arrived this week, and I LOVE it.  Will post pics later.

Oh, yeah!!!  Look at my early Christmas present.  I’m driving the family nuts with the constant picture taking.  I’m still learning how to use it, but it is fast, fast, fast.  Lovin’ it.

It’s a great way of decreasing clutter, and the cost is probably about the same after you factor in the price of prints and the album in which to put them.

I had to backtrack a bit, completing 2007, 2008, and 2009 this year.  I used iPhoto (iPhoto 8, iLife ’09) for the first two and switched to Blurb for 2009.

I just got the 2009 book in the mail today, so I was anxious to see how the two books stacked up against each other.

You can see from below that the iPhoto book (on top) is a little bit bigger than the Blurb book.

iPhoto book (on top).  Slightly smaller Blurb book on bottom

Blurb book with lustre finish

Software Usability

I found both pieces of software relatively easy to use although Blurb did not work very well at all on my PowerBook.  It wasn’t until I upgraded to the MacBook Pro that it was usable.

Blurb has A LOT more layout options and flexibility.  I especially liked the ability to customize any layout and save it as a template for later use.  The page on the right in the bottom book is a custom layout.  I switched the middle photo box for a text box.

Blurb book (on bottom) with custom layout

I should note, however, that iPhoto has a number of pre-determined themes, such as Travel and Family Album,  that can be very effective in quickly creating a particular look and feel to a book.  iPhoto also has a great map feature where you can insert a map page and then add pin points for places visited.  To my knowledge, Blurb does not have anything comparable.

With all of the options comes an extended time to complete the book.  I don’t have any firm numbers, but I know it took me considerably longer to compile the Blurb book than it did the iPhoto one–endless tweaking takes time.

Finished Product

Overall, I thought the finished products from the two companies were very comparable.  The bindings in both seem strong.  The paper quality is very similar, and the covers appear equally sturdy and well constructed.

Since the Blurb book is a bit smaller and I had more pages in it, the gutter was a bit bigger than in the iPhoto books, but the image quality was about the same in both.

I do think on the next Blurb book I will get the full image wrap, so the front cover image is printed directly on the hardcover.  The iPhoto book came with both the image wrap and a dust jacket.  I like the dust jacket because I put a little summary of the year on the inside flap, but the blank bookcover without the jacket is kinda blah.  If anything ever happened to the dust jacket, I don’t have the title or year anywhere else in the book…something to remember for the next one.

iPhoto book (on top) with full image wrap

iPhoto book (on top).  Similar dust jackets.  Slightly different end paper.

Price

Blurb–Hardcover, dust jacket; standard landscape 10 x 8; 80 pages; premium paper; lustre finish

40.95 + 6.99 shipping = 47.94

—————————————-

iPhoto–Hardcover, dust jacket; standard landscape 11 x 8.5; 66 pages

75.53 + 3.78 tax + 7.99 shipping = 87.30

Summary

With a significant difference in price, yet a similar quality, I will be going with Blurb for the 2010 Family Album.

Scene Capture: Night

Scene Capture: Nostalgic

Scene Capture: Sunset

The photo on the left was taken in Auto.  The photo on the right was taken in Scene mode set to Foliage.

Our first foray into digital photography began in 2005 with the Canon PowerShot A95.  I remember we bought it at Best Buy after hours of online research.

Almost 10,000 photos and five years later, the camera is about to die.  When I take a picture the color is all weird.

So with what do we replace it?  Another point and shoot? a DSLR?

On the one hand, I would like to make the jump to the next level, if you will, but there is something nice about having a quick, small point and shoot around to grab those spontaneous shots.

I’m not sure either about the logistics of caring a large camera in addition to the crap I already schlep around–kids, drink, snacks, backpack, toys, tissues, etc.

I do know that I want a camera with some type of video capability.  I love capturing 30 seconds or less of something the kids are doing.

That narrows the field of DSLR contenders down considerably.

Nikon’s with video:

D3000S~$1700

D90~$900

D5000~$630

Canon with video:

EOS 7D~$1700

EOS Rebel T2i EF-S~$900

EOS Rebel T1i EF-S~$800

Yikes!  $1700 smackers seems like a lot of money to spend on a non-essential.  I’m sure anything above $250 or so is going to be a tough sell to W.

If I got a DSLR AND a new iPhone, I would be set!  Ha. Ha. Then I would have something to take better  photos with as well as something for quick video and snapshots.

P.S. E took the photo above on our hike at Bushkill Falls.